Deputies pulled off streets after guns fail range testing

Friday

May 9, 2014 at 12:01 AM

FRENCH CAMP - The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office pulled its deputies off the streets Thursday afternoon and asked other local law enforcement agencies to respond to calls of service after a number of newly purchased duty weapons failed gun range testing, officials said.

Jason Anderson

FRENCH CAMP - The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office pulled its deputies off the streets Thursday afternoon and asked other local law enforcement agencies to respond to calls of service after a number of newly purchased duty weapons failed gun range testing, officials said.

"We recently purchased over 300 Sig Sauer .40-caliber handguns, and during qualification on the range, a couple of them failed," said Deputy Les Garcia, a Sheriff's Office spokesman. "Our range master contacted Sig, and Sig identified a part in this gun that will potentially cause them to malfunction."

Bringing in the deputies was "strictly precautionary," Garcia said, and the deputies were back on patrol as soon as they exchanged guns. Deputies were back on duty by 3:30 p.m.

In the meantime, officers from the Stockton, Lodi, Manteca, Tracy, Escalon and Ripon police departments responded to calls in the jurisdiction of the Sheriff's Office, Garcia said.

Garcia said the new guns were purchased within the past eight months following a recommendation from the San Joaquin Deputy Sheriff's Association. The guns will be returned to deputies after they are repaired, Garcia said.

"We have Sig representatives flying out (today) with parts, and they're going to fix these guns so we can put them back in service," Garcia said. "The guns may be fine, but we're not going to take that risk of putting a deputy's life in danger."

Contact reporter Jason Anderson at (209) 546-8279 or janderson@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/crimeblog and on Twitter @Stockton911.